Exploring the Valley
Discover the hidden gems, local legends, and can’t-miss experiences in Black Mountain and the Swannanoa Valley as we dive into the perks of Chamber membership and uncover what makes this mountain town a must-visit destination. Whether you're a local business or just passing through, there's something cool waiting for you!
Exploring the Valley
A Relief Worker Arrives For A Storm And Stays For The People
What does it take to move from emergency response to real, lasting recovery—and why would a relief worker choose to stay long after the chainsaws go quiet? We sit with Operation Blessing’s Bob Burke, who arrived after the storm to clear trees, tarp roofs, and deliver water, then found a home in the Swannanoa Valley. Bob opens up about the pivot from short‑term aid to a two‑year plan restoring more than 500 homes, and how collaboration—not competition—turned scattered efforts into a coordinated network that actually works.
You’ll hear how partnerships with Valley Hope Church, YWAM, World Vision, and local nonprofits created a pipeline for materials, volunteers, and casework. Bob explains why a “base church” speeds up everything from housing teams to earning community trust, and how the Chamber helped surface quiet needs through business owners and neighbors. He also pulls back the curtain on the difference between what visitors see on Main Street and the ongoing work up in the hills—bridge washouts, homes off foundations, and families still waiting for repairs after 15 months.
Recovery isn’t just residential. Bob walks us through reopening beloved local spots: helping Okie Dokies get back, supporting a Taekwondo studio, and pitching in with Asheville’s River Arts District and marquee spaces that many Black Mountain artists rely on. Along the way, we talk about the overlooked economic engine of volunteer crews who eat local, shop local, and keep cash flowing during slow seasons. And we make space for joy—favorite hikes like Lookout and Catawba Falls, the playful chaos of kids at Valley Hope, and the serendipity of joining a parade at the last minute because the town needed a truck and a friend.
If you’re curious how communities truly rebuild—or you’re weighing a move to Western North Carolina—this story offers a grounded view of resilience, belonging, and the everyday choices that stitch a valley back together. Listen, share with a neighbor who cares about local recovery, and subscribe for more stories that celebrate the pride of our community and the magic of the mountains.
Welcome to Exploring the Valley. This is Cheryl Hyde, the director of the Black Mountain Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce and the Black Mountain Visitor Center. On this podcast, I'll be your guide to the people, places, and stories that make our community special. Each episode will share the heart of the Swannanoa Valley, from local businesses and hidden trails to festivals, history, and the voices of our neighbors. Whether you're a longtime resident or a first-time visitor, you'll find the pride of our community and the magic of the mountains right here. You're listening to Exploring the Valley, where local pride meets lasting magic. You're in for a ride, so buckle up. Good morning, Bob Burke. I am so glad that you're here today. But I'm gonna let you start by telling us a little bit about. I always say, what's your story? Where are you from?
SPEAKER_00:Well, good morning. I basically a recent transplant to the area. Came back in January of last year, been here since the storm, but actually moved here in January to manage Operations Blessings efforts here in the Swantanoa Valley. And traveled around a lot early in my life. My dad was in the Secret Service. And so as he progressed through the ranks, we moved to different cities and settled in the Washington area when I was 12. And uh grew up there, went to school at George Washington University, got out, had a few jobs, settled in Farmville, Virginia, where I owned a Domino's Pizza franchise for 24 years. Holy cow. Yep, and that's where I raised my uh family. I have seven kids. Seven. Yep. So they range in age from 25 to 37. So six grandchildren, and then my third daughter just adopted a young lady who's a very good thing. Oh, how exciting teenager. Yeah, they're out in Oregon.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_00:So I'm looking forward to meeting her. I haven't met her yet. Good. But yeah. So have spent the last year here in the Swantanoa Valley and have really come to love it.
SPEAKER_01:Good. So the reason I picked to bring you today was I try to on on this podcast, we try to focus on people who live here as well as people who visit here. Um and I've had lots of people who grew up here. So lots of people who've lived here for 30 years, but I've never had anybody who moved here to help with one project and then ended up deciding they wanted to stay. So tell me a little bit uh tell me a little bit about I guess we need to back it up even further, like why you came in the first place. Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Well, for the last uh almost three years, I've worked for Operation Blessing. And Operation Blessing is the humanitarian arm of the 700 Club and Christian Broadcast Network and Regent University. They're all kind of a big collection of entities that are related. And I mean, I've traveled not only domestically, you know, in the Southeast, I've I've been to hurricanes and tornadoes throughout the South, but then this past year I've also been to Africa and to the Philippines. So uh back in Octo, you know, directly after the storm, September, October of last year, we came here to help with the rebuilding efforts. Initially, we were doing the short-term disaster recovery where we're we were helping people get back on their feet, which involves cutting up fallen trees and patching roofs and providing food and water and shelter and that kind of thing. And then as time went on and those immediate needs were handled, we evolved into a long-term disaster relief. And so we collaborated with several other disaster or uh humanitarian organizations, and we now are repairing or restoring over 500 houses over the course of two years. So, you know, Adventures Relief, Excel College, World Vision, Mercury One, uh those everybody's kind of come into a uh collaboration, and we're making this happen.
SPEAKER_01:Is YWAM part of y'all too?
SPEAKER_00:There are a couple organizations that were not the original groups, but it became absolutely instrumental. You've got YWAM is amazing. What does that stand for, YWAM? The Youth with a Mission. Gotcha. And it's the largest missionary organization on the, you know, in the world. And there are over 30,000, mostly young adults, that travel all, you know, they've got different headquarters all over the world. And when something happens, they respond. And so this was my first experience with YWAM, and we came to absolutely adore them. That they're such wonderful people, incredible hearts, and they work so well with us. So we learned about uh YWAM here in the Black Mountain area, and I've since worked with them in Burundi as well as Kenya and in the Philippines. So that's cool. And I know they're working with them in Jamaica right now, although I have not been to Jamaica.
SPEAKER_01:Good. Well, we like having you here. We still need you in in uh Swananoa and Swannanoa Valley. So thanks. I'm glad you're still here. All right. So you came here to help with disaster recovery after Helene. We thank you very much for that. I can't imagine giving up my whole world to go live somewhere for a couple of years just to help people that I don't even know. So we really do appreciate you and and all the groups that came to help us. But y'all are still here and we appreciate that. But you've decided that you've made a little decision that you want to do something that I think would surprise most people. Tell me what that is.
SPEAKER_00:Well, all my, you know, uh so I own property in central Virginia, and that is where I raised my family. And I but I've always thought that the the western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee area appealed to me and that I might want to settle there. And one of the cool things about being in this area is every day you wake up and you're seeing mountains. You have incredible opportunities to be outside, to hike, to uh, you know, kayak, all those different things. And the Black Mountain area has, you know, I've had the opportunity since I was placed here to uh really come to love this area and have started to get more and more involved in the community. You know, and then the the the other part of it is it's it's like a little Hallmark town. Really enjoyed participating in the Sourwood Festival and in Holly Jolly and helping with the parade and through all those different things. I'm really starting to feel like I belong here and really enjoy it. Aaron Powell So you're gonna stay? I'm thinking very seriously about that.
SPEAKER_01:Aaron Ross Powell Okay. We just need to find you somewhere to live.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. Well there there's that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Well good. But you wouldn't leave lose your your home in Virginia. You just want to have two, right?
SPEAKER_00:Aaron Ross Powell Uh Yeah. I would I've I've got a little bit a little more work to do on that property, and then my inclination would be probably to rent it out as an Airbnb or as a uh a long-term rental for travel nurses or something like that.
SPEAKER_01:Aaron Powell Okay. But then you'd be here. Notice how I keep going back to that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I'm thinking that's we want you to stay. Yeah, thank you.
SPEAKER_01:We really do. All right. So you tell me that you like the outdoors and you like the whole hiking and the opportunity to go do different things. What have you found to do? Tell me um where have you hiked? What have you what kind of outdoor adventures have you taken on?
SPEAKER_00:Aaron Powell We've I've done several of the local hikes around here, Lookout and Kitizuma and then Catawba Falls. Haven't done any of the larger hikes yet. Our the demands of the restoration of these houses has been pretty significant up until recently. As the weather has gotten colder, we get fewer volunteers. So we're actually going almost into a hibernation mode, probably for about a, you know, six to eight weeks. And uh then we'll kick up again in the spring. But this gives me an opportunity, weather permitting, to be able to get out and do some fun stuff.
SPEAKER_01:Good. Good there's a there's a church in town called Valley Hope Church. And in fact, they were the nonprofit of the year at the chamber this year. But I know that you've gotten involved with them, and they're doing a lot of house rebuilding or whatever, what do you call it?
SPEAKER_00:Restoration repair and restoration. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:They're doing a lot of that. And I know that y'all are connected with them. And I feel like you spend a lot of time helping them with materials. Is that is that fair? Is there what else?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, uh our role has evolved in this. Not only do we have the partners that we are working with, which now includes Valley Hope, but there are pretty much any of the nonprofits in this area that are geared towards helping people rebound from the storm, we're working with them at some level. We've got core coming in and getting materials from us. There's several. I mean, Bounty and Soul, a bunch of the different groups locally are not necessarily full-blown partners with us, but we interact really well. And that's kind of evolved since the storm, where you've got partners you're working with on, you know, side by side on a daily basis, but there's a collaborative effort across the board. We're working with anybody who needs help, anybody who we can be a blessing to, and we have resources they need, we re- we help them with that. And similarly, they help us.
SPEAKER_01:One of the things that I guess this is patting ourselves on the back the chamber, but you became a chamber member relatively soon after I met you. And you've made some connections that way, go into the business community club and making some of some of those connections you've made through the chamber. And I think that most people wouldn't think of a disaster recovery team that's here temporarily becoming a chamber member. But is that a fair thing for me to say or am I being self-serving?
SPEAKER_00:No, not at all. The I was a business owner for 24 years, and I understand the value of being plugged in with the chamber. And in my role with disaster relief, that was another opportunity for me to learn of people who had needs. And so that was just a natural choice to go ahead and join the chamber. And not only have I met several people that way, many people that way, but I've had quite a few people say, hey, I know about this person that needs help. Could you reach out to them? And we were able to.
SPEAKER_01:So back to Valley Hope, which I'm I guess I'm I'm excited because they were the nonprofit of the year, and I'm gonna say that again. But tell me what you do. I I love to watch the collab uh my favorite line is collaboration over competition. So how are you specifically collaborating with them?
SPEAKER_00:Aaron Powell Okay. One of the things we do is if there's a disaster somewhere, I'm usually one of the first people on the ground, and we look for a church partner to work with. And what that does is it provides us, first of all, with a base of operations, but then also it gives us a pool of volunteers. And so a very natural thing for me to do when I'm in I come into a disaster situation is to find a base church. And it was a little bit different here. We've worked with several churches, but Valley Hope is different from virtually any other church I've worked with in any of the different disaster areas. They are so involved in the community. They've done an amazing amount of amount of outreach, and it it basically is just an essential element of how they operate. And so just hats off to Valley Hope. I've actually started going there because of that tendency for outreach they have and have met more and more of the people there. And it just really am impressed by their uh heart for helping the community. It's really they put their money where their mouth is and they're very serious about it.
SPEAKER_01:I have people who come into the visitor center every day and they say, wow, this town doesn't look like it got hit at all. And we try we try to, you know, be positive and tell them, well, actually, it was because of people from outside who came and helped rescue us to get us back to where we need to be, that it looks as good as it does. And then I always tell them that you're gonna see the visitor side of it. And yes, it does look really good in town. There are places outside where you really wouldn't go or you don't see that aren't that aren't aren't back to snuff yet. I live on a dirt road, which is not what I moved to a couple of years ago because it's up high on a hill and people don't see that. But y'all are doing, I guess what I'm trying to say is that you look in Swannanoa and they are doing amazing things. They're they've really come a long way, but people think when they visit that everything's fixed and everything's fine. But every day y'all are still working on individual homes and bus some businesses still, but mostly homes at this point. Is that right?
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah, this the full recovery from that storm is going to be years. Certainly many of the things that are easily visible from you know your major roads have been recovered. It's really cool to see the different businesses, you know, that are opening one after the other. And uh it's so exciting. Some new businesses coming in, but uh many were destroyed and aren't coming back. And when you get a little bit off the beaten track, you're still finding houses that are off their foundations and you're you're still finding bridges that are washed out, and they've gone ahead and they've tried to uh you know jerry-rig something, but up in the hills in particular. But there's certainly improvement. Uh this area is is coming along great. We feel really good about the the families we've been able to put back in their houses, but there's still it's a tremendous amount of work to do.
SPEAKER_01:Aaron Ross Powell And I guess at this point we're when we're recording this, we're at 15 months out. Is that about right? October, November, December, yes. Yeah. So I I think I I guess I'm just saying that uh from the visitor center perspective, visitors are really impressed with how good everything looks. Those of us who live here know that that's not necessarily true everywhere, but we really appreciate all the work that all of you are doing. Thank you. One of the things I've also noticed about all the disaster recovery people that have come here, we still see mostly we still see a lot of different, different organizations that are here. But one of the things that y'all do really well is eat in our restaurants. I see them everywhere. And that is something people don't always think about as being part of helping the economy. You you all are buying your Christmas presents in the stores that are here in the Swaninova Valley, and you eat in restaurants all the time. Have you found a particular restaurant or restaurants that are that are your favorite? Are you are you a guy who eats in lots of restaurant restaurants or do you have like a one favorite I am eating a lot more in restaurants lately?
SPEAKER_00:But there I I've been to almost I mean, virtually every restaurant in the area. And I'd say that the the easy go-tos are the trailhead for a quick, incredibly great priced lunch taco billy's. But love the Grange. I swear I it's it's really difficult to single any restaurants out. We've been to the German restaurant, we've been to I'm very happy to see Oli guacamolys back in their original location. And then Okie dokie's. I'm telling the the proprietors of Okie dokie's did tremendous amount of work, but we had the honor of being able to provide them with some building materials and we helped them in their process. And so so excited to see them back open again. And that's the other thing, you know, in addition to, you know, we help people get into their houses, but then that in our collaboration with those nonprofits is one facet of what we did, but we also did a tremendous amount of work helping to get many of the local artisans back to work down in Asheville, where we got we did some significant work getting the uh River Arts District back on its feet. I know there are many artists that w show their wares down there, live out here in the Black Mountain Swann O area. And then other businesses we I know we've put uh the barbershop back into business. We helped a local uh Taekwondo studio get back into operation, a couple beauticians. So as an Operation Blessing guy, we not only help people with, you know, in the residence, but we also do the businesses. And it's been the a cool thing about that is that in just the course of a year, my connection to this community has grown so much because I've got such an intimate relationship with, you know, I'll drive by one business and say, well, yeah, we provided them with a a tire changing machine. And then we we went into we did all of the flooring for the Taekwondo studio, and we did the sheet rocket, okie dokie's and so you and the the coffee shop, you know, just so many different things that we've done. And I know those owners, you know, I've I've had the opportunity to get to know them and like them, be excited about getting them back on their feet, and that that is helping to uh really anchor me here. I said I've never really done been here anywhere so long. Usually Operation Blessing is in and out in about six weeks. And uh, we made a two-year commitment at minimum here until we got all those houses repaired. So that's had a lasting impact.
SPEAKER_01:You talked a little bit about the River Arts District and Arts AVL, is an organization in Asheville, like Explore Asheville. And really, I wish they were called Bunkham because they really do a lot of good work for us too. But a lot of the things that they do is to highlight all of Bunkham County and sometimes even Western North Carolina, but but they have done a lot of work to help bring the Black Mountain art scene into the fold of what they do. And so I did get to go to the reopening of the marquee, which y'all worked on that too, right? Oh yeah. Okay. And that was one of the that was really a big highlight to get to see. Oh, it was a it was an event, but it was also a highlight to get to see, just to see the work that y'all have done, just because I'd been there before and I went there after y'all were there. And truthfully, you don't, I mean, it it looks better than it did before the storm, but but it also you wouldn't know that anything had ever happened there. So that's fun to get to go see. And while I don't usually talk about Asheville, I think that we have to include Asheville in Black Mountain's world because we do so many different things together.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Well, you were with you and I kid about how Black Mountain is almost as weird as Asheville, but has free parking.
SPEAKER_01:That's right. That's our line. I'm gonna get a t-shirt at some point. It's gonna say that. We're gonna sell millions.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:The other thing I've heard is well, never mind. How about East of Weird? Asheville, East of Weird. Those are that one was taken. That one was taken from Austin, which so there are there are there are bumper stickers that say keep Asheville weird. That actually came from Austin, Texas, which was keep Austin weird. And so I was talking to a visitor in the visitor center about it, and I said, Yeah, we're gonna steal that and we're gonna market that and whatever. And he said, Oh, then you need to add East of Weird. I like that. And I was like, ooh, I like that one too. Anyway, so let's see. So you're thinking about staying. What would you tell somebody who's thinking about moving here or setting down roots right here in the Swannova Valley?
SPEAKER_00:I think a big part of it is community. In my past experience, I lived in a small town before, but in the property that I have in central Virginia is about six miles away from town because I'm out in the country. But when we were in town, there was some element of community. And then beyond that, I was in subur suburbs all my life, suburbs of big cities, and didn't have that community. And I've had occasion while being here to really experience that and to see people uh locally caring about each other and reaching out, going well beyond and uh be above and beyond the call of duty to help their neighbors. That combined with what I mentioned before about you know g getting to know business owners that are rebuilding their businesses. spending so much time in the community, getting community, getting to know more and more people. It's I I think that I would tell somebody that there's a strong sense of community here. There is a way for you to to come in and have that wholesome thing where even though we have to be careful in this day and age about letting our kids run around, there's an element of that here. There's a safety, there's a people looking out for one another. And that's really valuable and that's a big draw. You know, because even all my though my kids are all launched, my youngest at 25, you really can appreciate that. For example, at Valley Hope Church, when I was raising my kids, you know, you had seven kids scurrying around and when I went to Valley Hope, that became a very cool part of that is when they have the kids come back in, it's absolute chaos. And it just reminded me of raising my kids. And it it just was a really fun connection to my past and in endearing thing for that church, just to have that chaos going on because it was my experience.
SPEAKER_01:Your experience at home or your experience at church with your children or just absolutely everywhere you went?
SPEAKER_00:When you have seven kids, chaos is more or less the order of the day. Except my oldest three were were girls and so my four sons had got away with nothing because they essentially had four mothers chasing them down at every any given moment. That's why it was a cool dynamic and uh pretty proud of my family.
SPEAKER_01:Good. Good. Well we are really grateful for you and for Operation Blessing and and all of the all of the different disaster recovery teams that came but I personally am grateful that you came and you became a part of the chamber. Your team has really helped us with logistics of things, making Sourwood festival and holly jolly y'all jumped in there and boy, I was really grateful when you didn't mind that I slapped a giant banner on the back of your truck and said you're at the end of the parade. Get in the truck big boy you're gonna drive drive at the end of the parade. We needed your help really quickly and you were there and we appreciate that.
SPEAKER_00:So that was funny. Hey Bob would you mind if we have you take up the rear of the parade I was like no okay good because we put a banner on your truck already and there's a guy sitting in the passenger seat and they're waiting for you.
SPEAKER_01:Bill Alexander we needed to give him a place to be in the parade and I just couldn't send him home yet and I said well hey man would you ride with my friend Bob? He's gonna pull the end of the he goes of course I will and then I tell you hey there's a guy in your truck and it's running and hope it's okay.
SPEAKER_00:We had a good conversation that was fun.
SPEAKER_01:That's right really enjoyed that all right well thank you for all you do and thanks for coming in today. Hey thank you it's a pleasure I appreciate you thanks for joining us on Exploring the Valley until next time keep celebrating the pride of our community and discovering the magic of the mountains. In the meantime you're free to move about the valley